Skills and Elements

As well as the different forms of musical thinking required by a range of styles, genres and traditions, the generic activities of performing, composing, listening and reviewing and evaluating all provide a breadth of thinking. The task of analysing a song to identify its structure, for instance, requires a very different form of thinking to that needed when leading an ensemble performance. It is important that this balance is tracked across the key stage, and the curriculum map can again be used for this. Where, for instance, does singing appear across the key stage as a focus for learning: in one unit in Year 7, two units in Year 8 and one in Year 9? Or is it threaded through so that pupils have to experience this way of making music in every unit?

The model of learning in Unit 1: Structuring learning for musical understanding also identifies that pupils need to learn about the features of different musical elements. If they are to develop an effective range of musical thinking, pupils will need to develop their understanding of the full range of musical elements (e.g. understanding aspects of pitch requires different thinking from understanding of musical structures). Pupils’ ability to develop a range of thinking by exploring features of different musical elements therefore needs to be tracked across the key stage.

National Curriculum (2008) breadth

Document 5a  43kb can also be used to plan for and track three fundamental requirements of the National Curriculum (2008). While every unit will contribute to the breadth of thinking challenges across the key stage, the following requirements will only appear in some units – but tracking the range and total number of experiences across the key stage will be important, to ensure that pupils acquire an appropriate spread of learning:

1. Key Concept 1.1b ‘Participating, collaborating and working with others as musicians’ – do the pupils have opportunities to work with a range of musicians across the key stage? You can read more about this in Unit 6, Challenges section.
2. Key Concept 1.2a ‘Cultural understanding: understanding musical traditions and the part music plays in national and global culture and personal identity’ – do the titles of the units indicate that pupils will experience music from a range of times and places?
3. Key Concept 1.4b ‘Exploring ways music can be combined with other art forms and other subject disciplines’ – how many opportunities do pupils get to extend and reinforce their learning by working collaboratively with a range of other disciplines?

Finally, the National Curriculum (2008) identifies how the study of music should include a range of other content and curriculum opportunities. Individual unit plans will identify where these are being addressed, but collating the information on a single sheet can help to identify any gaps.

Document 5g  58kb can be used to log the details, and to prompt a review of where amendments can be made to address areas of weakness. Remember that it is the spread over time that is important – there is no expectation that every unit will address every aspect listed. For instance, not every unit will lend itself to a performance outside of the classroom, nor to a study or intellectual property rights – but some will, and reviewing how these opportunities are developed over the key stage is important.